Answers from my elder dsm owners!

[UntouchableGST]

Hey guys! Im new to this site along with owning a dsm. I recently bought a 97 gst. The odom reads 270k but the kid sais the engine has been rebuilt. I have my doubts but whatever. The thing is my oil pressure gets really low at an idle but is just fine under a load. Any ideas? Just did a compression test along with new oil change. Nothing changed. I know I have a couple of sensors going out. Wich is also one of my next questions. When my car warms up, and I start driving all my lights with surge. The car itself doesn't lose power but all the lights surge. Only when the engine is under power though. At an idle she seems fine. It does have a new starter and alt but the guy had a push button installed. Could this be a problem? I checked for lose wires and looked everywhere that was an obvious clue but I cam up with nothing. I want to fix everything right before I even think about tuning this thing. So any ideas would be much respected. Thank you

 

[1davho]

If you still have balance shafts, that would be pretty normal for oil pressure as long as it doesn't drop below 11 psi at idle. As for the lights surging, I would check and see what your voltage is while it is doing that. I had a problem with overcharging and undercharging with a new alternator and it eneded up being the alternator relay.

 

[gusu]

Just curious, what were your compression results?

 

[95talongirl]

My oil gauge also reads pretty low at idle. So that sound about right.

See if you can get a multimeter and check what the voltage is at for the surging. That'll give you an idea if your alternator is having some issues or not.

 

[FLASH1970]

My idle oil pressure is 7 or so when it's fully warmed up. Been that way for thousands of miles... no problems yet. Oil pressure is about 60psi when doing 60, 70psi when doing 70... Car has over 255k on it.

The surge might be a bad voltage regulator. They're inside the alternators on these cars. I know I went through 3 or 4 Autozone ones in the span of a few months before I got one that's lasted from them. At least it has a lifetime warranty. So, if he put in an Autozone one it might be bad.

 

[UntouchableGST]

Replacing the alt was my next step, figured id ask for any other ideas first so thanks My compression is not good. If I did my home work right, the stock compression is 178? My car with 270k miles (saying the engine wasn't rebuilt) is only reading about 140 across the board. I don't know when the last time the timing has been done or if that could effect my compression readings if the timing is off. Is there any other thing that could make my readings that low other than the rings or the gasket being bad? I do plan on doing a leak down test in the future. If those numbers are correct I guess I better plan on investing in a new engine

 

[Cdc1221]

It is low for a 2g, but to be 140 on all 4 seems like a well aged engine. I would change out timing components and run it. See how far that 7 bolt will keep on ticking

 

[95talongirl]

I agree... just change out the timing belt and see how long she will hold out on you! I bet you could get 300k or more.

Then... rebuild it.